My name is Pat and I am a “Recovering Rushaholic.” My addiction was to rushing, staying busy, producing, and achieving. Is there anyone out there who can relate to this? Raise your hands! You know who you are.

The first step in recovering from any addiction is to admit there is a problem. Rushing and staying busy had become a way of life for me. I was the queen of multi-tasking. Picture this scene many years ago in my kitchen-talking on the phone, stirring the scrambled eggs in the frying pan and nursing my infant son. Now, that’s insanity. But that is what I did and I’m not proud of it.

I now know why I rushed and stayed busy. Rushing and staying busy medicated my feelings. I didn’t want to go within and feel the pain inside. I didn’t want to feel my feelings of inadequacy, self-hatred, fear, guilt and not being good enough that plagued me all of my life.

When I stayed busy, produced and achieved, I felt good about myself. I looked outside for validation; therefore my self esteem depended on others. If you liked me, I felt good about myself, but if you didn’t like me, I didn’t feel good about myself. My insides didn’t match my outside. I looked successful on the outside, but inside was a different story. In high school, it wasn’t enough to be a cheerleader, I had to be the captain of the cheerleader s and the president of the sorority I joined. I often beat up on myself and compared myself to others and felt less than – that I wasn’t doing enough. Sound familiar?

What an exhausting and stressful existence to always have to rush, achieve and produce. There is no peace of mind and living in the moment. I needed to change and do something different if I wanted peace in my life. I had to slow down, ask for help and take action. I now have a morning ritual. When I get out of bed, I immediately get on my knees and pray the serenity prayer and repeat my intention for the day. My intention is to be peaceful, love and serve. It works.

I became acutely aware of my addiction while working in the hospital where it is very fast paced. You were expected to rush from one patient to the next and often without even taking a bathroom break. I started consciously walking slower rather than racing down the hall. I repeated my affirmation “my intention is to be peaceful” in my head. An amazing thing happened. I felt more peaceful and heard comments from patients and co-workers such as “ I know Pat is coming down the hall before I even see her because of her meditative and peaceful walk.”

Do I still get tempted to rush, stay busy and achieve? I sure do. Old habits don’t die easily, but when I become aware of these behaviors, I stop, go within and see what’s going on. Here are my 6 Tips to Live in Peace.

6 TIPS TO LIVE IN PEACE

SHOW UP – Develop a daily spiritual practice of prayer and meditation. Set an intention for the day.

ASK FOR WHATYOU WANT and expect an answer. Be clear about what you want. Visualize and believe.

BE GRATEFUL – An attitude of Gratitude is the key to make things manifest quickly. Focus on what you have, rather than what’s missing.